Contents:
Cover 952
Saturday 15 October, 00:15 hours, Grandes Jorasses: the newly installed Gervasutti hut, designed by Luca Gentilcore and Stefano Testa, gleams in the moonlight. Photo by Francesco Mattuzzi
Editorial
Joseph Grima
Op-ed: Steve Jobs (1955–2011)
Kazys Varnelis
Mixtape: Tel Aviv
Erez Ella, Ofer Meiri. Curated by Daniel Perlin
Journal
Edited by Elena Sommariva
Photoessay
Ariel Huber
OMA Reloaded
Two newly inaugurated buildings and a retrospective exhibition in London offer a multifaceted insight into the present state—and remote origins, in the heyday of Post-Modernism—of an office that redefined the practice of architecture. Texts by Florian Idenburg, Sam Jacob. Photography by Iwan Baan, Lyndon Douglas, Philippe Ruault. Edited by Laura Bossi
Frontier parkland
Playa Vista Park, designed by Michael Maltzan, is an attempt to rethink the idea of collective spaces in newly urbanised areas of Los Angeles. Designed for public use, it is a sequence of parallel scenarios, each designed for specific activities. Text by Lucia Tozzi. Photography by Iwan Baan. Edited by Laura Bossi
ARCHITECTURE IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS
Learning from the void
As formerly inaccessible locations become everyday destinations for work and pleasure, new design challenges—and opportunities—emerge. The new Bivacco Gervasutti projected by Luca Gentilcore and Stefano Testa, a replicable prototype anchored to the side of Mont Blanc, opens our review of architecture in extreme environments. Text by Michele Calzavara. Photography by Francesco Mattuzzi. Edited by Rita Capezzuto
ARCHITECTURE IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS
Destination zero-gravity
Now that space tourism is no longer a dream, architects and designers are finally wresting the design of space-based environments from engineers. Susmita Mohanty, spaceship designer and orbital entrepreneur, explains. Edited by Rita Capezzuto
ARCHITECTURE IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS
Reindeer ahead!
A remote, windswept Norwegian plateau may seem an unusual location to test 1:1 scale digital fabrication, but Snøhetta's reindeer observation pavilion proves advanced production techniques aren't incompatible with inhospitable climates. Photography by Ketil Jacobsen, Snøhetta. Edited by Rita Capezzuto
ARCHITECTURE IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS
Rainbow Warrior III. Greenpeace's media assault vessel
Purpose-designed to remain impenetrable to hostile forces while conducting actions in high seas, Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior III by Dykstra & Partners heralds the birth a new naval typology: the media battleship. Text by Clemens Weisshaar. Photography by Armin Linke. Edited by Loredana Mascheroni
The biennale as design lab
Following a visit to the design biennials of Gwangju and Lisbon, Domus outlines a map of the emerging and rapidly growing phenomenon of biennials in the age of global design. Text by Rosanna Ambrosetti. Edited by Elena Sommariva
Network: Martino Gamper
Francesca Picchi
Network: Bouroullec Textile Field
Silvia Monaco
Letter from Istanbul
With this year's tightly curated edition of the Istanbul Biennial, Jens Hoffman and Adriano Pedrosa step outside the usual circles, highlighting numerous lesser-known artists. Meanwhile, outside the Ryue Nishizawa-designed exhibition spaces, the streets pulsate with the energy and turmoil of a city poised between Islam and secularism. Text by Massimiliano Gioni. Edited by Loredana Mascheroni
Cool clay
Over the last ten years, a potter from the Indian state of Gujarat with a background in tile manufacturing has developed an economical yet innovative line of clay-based domestic products. The latest invention of his company, Mitticool, is a clay refrigerator that exploits the cooling properties of terracotta, allowing it to operate without electricity. Text by Kalyani Majumdar. Photography by N. Bhati. Edited by Loredana Mascheroni
Five case histories
The fact that the recession is prompting new design considerations is borne out by the stories of five new design enterprises with differing approaches but common traits: an international make-up, identities developed around global and local cultures, and a preference for the small scale and diversification. Domus looks at Auerberg, Colé, Punkt and Valsecchi 1918, outlining their origins, the products they offer, and their plans for the future. Text by Cecilia Fabiani. Photography by Ramak Fazel. Edited by Loredana Mascheroni
Network: François Dallegret
Roberto Zancan
Network: Pipilotti Rist
Loredana Mascheroni
States of Design 07: Bio-design
Bio-designers are turning their attention to familiar organisms like plants and animals. In some cases they examine the less accessible world of bacteria and cells, while in others they pursue the creation of new living systems by directly manipulating DNA. This endeavour requires collaboration and interaction among different disciplines and is carried out chiefly in groups, raising implications that collide with our deepest beliefs. Text by Paola Antonelli. Edited by Francesca Picchi
Mahendra Raj. Engineering a nation
When India gained independence in 1947, a generation of architects was tasked with expressing, through their buildings, the identity of a new and modern nation. The most inventive and pioneering among these projects shared a common feature: the engineering genius of Mahendra Raj. Hans Ulrich Obrist interviews one of the founding fathers of Indian modernity. Interview by Hans Ulrich Obrist. Edited by Francesca Picchi
Unpacking my library: Yona Friedman
Countless books line the walls of Yona Friedman's famous studio-apartment in Paris, expressing the multiplicity of their owner's interests: from architecture to literature and from anthropology to sociology. But for the standard-bearer of architecture mobile what really counts is "that which one's memory wishes to retain". Interview by Gianluigi Ricuperati. Photography by Benoit Pailley. Edited by Rita Capezzuto
Rassegna: Office
Edited by Laura Bossi
Panorama
Edited by Guido Musante
Horoscope: Scorpio
By Dan Graham, Jessica Russell. Edited by Elena Sommariva